Overview
- NASA and JPL confirmed that Perseverance executed AI-planned drives on December 8 and 10, 2025, covering 210 meters and 246 meters in Jezero Crater.
- In collaboration with Anthropic, JPL used a vision‑language model to analyze HiRISE orbital imagery and elevation data to identify hazards and generate a continuous path with waypoints.
- Claude produced rover commands in Rover Markup Language, which JPL engineers reviewed and adjusted slightly before uplink after simulation checks.
- The drive plan was verified in JPL’s digital twin of the rover, which checked more than 500,000 telemetry variables to ensure compatibility with flight software.
- Perseverance’s executed path diverged slightly from the planned route as on‑board AutoNav and rover drivers handled local decisions within keep‑in zones, illustrating a layered human‑AI‑autonomy workflow.